Black Preachers Question Tasering and Killing of Black Man

Another black man dies, as police cover up wrongful death by saying a black man pulled a stolen gun and pointed it after being shocked by a Taser and falling to the ground.

According to the Associated Baptist Press, Black Baptist preachers in Jacksonville, Fla., are calling for an independent investigation into a rash of recent shootings by police.

Family members said Kiko Battle, fatally shot by police, wanted to be a barber.

The call follows the June 15 fatal shooting of 24-year-old Kiko Battle by two-off duty officers who stopped him for questioning while he was walking down the street not far from his home. Local media said it was Jacksonville's eighth police-involved shooting of 2009 and the fifth fatality.

"We just want the killing to stop," Edward Preston, president of Baptist Ministers Conference, said in comments aired on local TV news broadcasts. "There have been too many killings, and it's time to bring it to an end."

Police said Battle was a dangerous felon who pulled a stolen gun and pointed it after being shocked by a Taser and falling to the ground. Afterward they say he got up and started to flee by climbing over a fence.

Battle's grandmother gave a different account. Ruth Sanders, 70, told the Florida Times-Union moments after he left her house she received a call from a neighbor saying her grandson was being shocked.

Sanders said she ran to the corner before shots were fired and could not see Battle because he was lying on the ground. She said she cried out to the officers begging them not to shoot.

Family members told the newspaper there was no reason to shoot Battle nine times after he had already been subdued.

Family members also questioned why police were bothering a young black man walking down the street in his own neighborhood in broad daylight. "It means everyone who was walking in the street was suspicious," said Wallace Eberhart, an uncle. More HERE

Rusty Depass and other Post-Racial Bigots

More sorry Post-Racial white male bigotry in South Carolina. First it's the Gov. who has to be ordered by the SC high court orders governor to take federal cash. Now, as reported by Politics Daily, The South Carolina Republican Party recently launched a campaign to reach out to minorities who have, for decades, wanted nothing to do with the state's GOP. On Sunday, however, longtime Republican activist Rusty DePass seemed to be doing everything in his power to thwart that effort when he was caught making a racist joke on his Facebook page about First Lady Michelle Obama.

Black bloggers have been following this event as well. The blog THE INTERSECTION OF MADNESS AND REALITY has followed this event. The blogs Pam's House, AverageBro.com, Black Agenda Report, Black Politics on the Web,

Rusty Depass has a rusted, color aroused brain.

Over the weekend, a gorilla escaped from a zoo in Columbia, and according to the New York Daily News, DePass just couldn't resist what he saw as the perfect opportunity for humor, updating his status message to read,

"I'm sure it's just one of Michelle's ancestors - probably harmless."

More at: GOP activist says escaped gorilla was 'ancestor' of Michelle Obama. Ben Hoover reports

Now the old negroes are upset about the Michelle Obama Gorilla Comment: NAACP Demands "Proper" Apology. I'm appreciative of the The Wichita NAACP activism. I only wish the NAACP national office could get upset and join the national effort to stop the taser torture of black folks in America, as they are concerned about our first lady.

Most black folks understand that there is clear evidence of hate and contempt for a Black President and first lady in America. Let's hope that the Obama's realize that we are not in a Post-Racial America.

Sherri Goforth Makes History as two bit color aroused bigot

A Post-Racial Minute from Sherri Goforth, a legislative aide for Sen. Diane Black. As reported by the blog, Black Politics On The Web.com Tennessee Democratic legislators are expressing outrage over a racist e-mail about President Barack Obama that was sent by a state employee who works for a Republican lawmaker.

The e-mail from Sherri Goforth, a legislative aide for Sen. Diane Black, was sent last month to other staff for Republican senators. The e-mail, first reported by an East Tennessee

blog, shows a portrait or photo of each U.S. president except Obama, who is depicted only as wide eyes in a black background. MORE HERE

News outlets are reporting on Sen Diane Black's (R-Gallatin) legislative aid circulates bigoted and color aroused email. WTF - Get this. - Yet, another Republican feels free to attack the dignity of our presidential office with vile hate and racism. In what has become an almost daily occurrence in Republican circles, a staffer for Tennessee State Senator Diane Black sent out a racist email last month, demeaning President Obama, using her work computer and state email account .

The Republican staffer’s name is Sherri Goforth and she emailed a racial smear against President Obama to a long list of recipients, including co-workers. The email was entitled, “Historical Keepsake Photo,” and included a picture of all of our 44 presidents, except that President Obama’s portrait only contained two white eyes against a black background.

You would think that after her disgusting racial smear was revealed, Sherri Goforth would be suitably apologetic, humiliated and shamed. But that’s not the case, not at all. She doesn’t comprehend how reprehensible her actions were.

When asked about the racist email, Goforth was only sorry that her racism was made public and she showed no remorse. She was only sorry she sent the email smear to the “wrong list.”

This bigot thinks it's an Historical Keepsake Photo.

The Fall of Iran as we know it?

Nico Pitney over at The Huffington Post is providing great coverage on what could be the fall of Iran as we know it. Other newspaper outlets such as my hometown Boston Globe have a number of great high-quality photos. Candidly I'm not surprised that Ahmadinejad may have engaged in election fraud. But I guess elerction fraud is no big deal to the Barack Obama administration as it has reiterated its dialogue offer. But wasn't Ahmadinejad a terrorist during the Carter administration?

The National Democratic Institute has a great graphic on what they term a complex system. I guess the National Democratic Institute has not developed a graphic on our system of government lately.

So what do you think is next for Iran?

Dwight Madison Tasered While Black

UPDATE: As reported by WTOP News, WBFF FOX 45, The Washington Times, State of Maryland and blogger- Villager, from the blog Electronic Village, are reporting on how Dwight Madison a Military Veteran was killed by Taser While in Police Custody. Harford County authorities are investigating the death of an inmate at the county detention center. The county sheriff's office says 48-year-old Dwight Madison was arrested Thursday for trespassing in Bel Air (MD).

As reported by Electronic Village, officials say he became uncooperative on Friday when deputies tried to fingerprint him, fighting with two correctional deputies and one civilian employee. [SOURCE]

More HERE

Now the question is how many people have to be Tasered to death before Americans say enough is enough, and join the effort to have congressional hearings on taser torture in America?

Update on Demonstrations In Iran

All hell is breaking loose in Iran. As reported by the Huffington Post, and the Washington Post, Violence is flaring in Iran Amid the Election Dispute the clashes continue this Sunday night on the streets in Tehran, Iran's opposition leader Mir-Hossein Moussavi plans to make a speech to Iranians in the capital's Azadi (Freedom) square."

Iranian supporters of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad hurl stones towards supporters of defeated Iranian presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi who are inside Tehran university during riots in Tehran. Meanwhile Joe Biden has doubts about the outcome of the vote.

The Tasering of Brian Cardall Brings Out More Info On Tasering

Ok, As you know I'm usually talking about the tasering of black folks on my blog Tasered While Black. But I must say incidents of tasering involving people of every group, including the tasering of seniors in the United states are rising. Take for example the recent killing of Brian Cardell who was recently tasered to death. As reported by Electronic Village, Brian Cardall, recently diagnosed with bipolar disease, was driving home from a family wedding in Salt Lake City with his wife when he became disoriented. He stopped the car and got out. His wife called 911 to request medical assistance. More HERE

Now, as reported by KCSZ TV, A Hurricane man has come forward with an eyewitness account of Tuesdays tasering incident that led to the death of 32 year old Brian Cardall.



Lorry Stratton, a propane service man, was traveling on SR 59 Tuesday afternoon when two hurricane officers with lights flashing passed him going up the hill.

Moments later Stratton pulled up on scene and saw Hurricane City Police Chief Lynn Excell and another Hurricane officer standing near a man who was undressed and holding his clothes in his hands. Stratton said he watched the officer say something to the man and the man took a step forward.

That is when the officer deployed his taser causing him to drop to the ground. Stratton says the man did not seem to be a threat. More HERE The police killed Cardall with 50,000 volts of electricity from their taser gun. As Villager from the blog Electronic Village said, "Brian Cardall is the 21st person in America to die from taser-related shooting this year. Torture isn't limited to Dick Cheney. Taser-torture is occuring all over our nation."

As reported by KSL TV, Taser International says "exposure to tasering is not risk free, but there's no conclusive evidence [it says] for a high risk of serious injury." But the death this week of a 32-year-old man who was tased by police in Washington County is again drawing questions from cardiologists who specialize in the electrophysiology of the heart.

While police have experienced tasing themselves and the manufacturer has tested the device on numerous volunteers, cardiologists still question the effects of the gun's jolt on the heart.

Dr. Brian Crandall specializes in the electrophysiology of the heart. He says making a blanket statement about a Taser's low risk when users often don't know the medical background of the person they're tasing.

Crandall said, "If someone is going to get tasered, they're not evaluating their medical history going into it, so you don't know those things in advance, so it's difficult to make any blanket statements."

Dr. Crandall says the balanced electrical rhythm of the heart can be fragile even in a normal heart, depending on what's happening at the moment inside the body.

In a heightened mental condition where anxiety is pervasive, circulating hormones and the nervous system have an impact on the heart. Crandall explained, "The heart is heavily nerved and the nervous system has a big influence on the heart and the heart rhythm."

Also, a lot depends what part of the body is targeted by the Taser user. For example, if the victim is hit in the chest. "The proximity would definitely play a role," explained Crandall. "It would hit the heart much more there than if it were at a further distance away."

Tasing is simply not a "one-for-all" answer in disabling someone.

In an officer's judgment when to use the device, The U.S. Department of Justice warns, "Abnormal mental status in a combative or resistive subject may be associated with a risk for sudden death."

Crandall said, "A sick heart is one that would be at high risk … but it can even happen in people with normal hearts that, given the right circumstances, that if the rhythm is thrown off and there is no immediate remedy to it, that it could be a life threatening situation."

Crandall says physicians know a lot about electrical currents used in medicine to restart a failing heart, but researchers need more extensive studies on the effects of tasing. More HERE

AAPP: It's clear Police training for handling mental illness cases is lacking, Clearly it's time for all Americans to join the effort to have congressional hearings on taser torture. Please consider signing the petition.